VOCATIONAL CENTER PLANS FEST AT MALL NEXT WEEK

The Davis Area Vocational Center will offer free classes and "A Festival of Career Opportunities" at Layton Hills Mall during National Vocational Education Week, Feb. 12-18.

The festival will run Monday and Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the mall.Shoppers will have a chance to try hands-on activities, such as computer drafting, machine tooling, electronic memory systems, automotive troubleshooting and computer programming.

Displays and demonstrations will be set up through the mall.

Free mini-classes will also be offered at the vocational center, 550 E. Third South, on Wednesday and Thursday.

The festival classes are hoped to give people a feel for the kind of skills that can be learned through vocational education and its link to the state's economic future, said Wendy Marsell, vocational center spokeswoman.

"I think it is important to have vocational educational. To a large part this is a vocational state. To a large part it is connected to the state's economic development," said Marsell.